At the Horn | Sabres 3 – Bruins 2 (OT)

The Buffalo Sabres beat the Boston Bruins 3-2 in overtime Monday at TD Garden.

Alex Tuch scored the overtime winner on a power play with 11 seconds remaining as the Sabres earned their second straight win past regulation and snapped an eight-game road winless streak.

Owen Power tied a career high with three points (1+2), including the primary assist on Tuch’s game winner. Peyton Krebs also scored for the Sabres, and Jack Quinn logged a pair of assists.

Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made his seventh straight start in net for Buffalo and stopped 17 of 19 shots.

Pavel Zacha and Morgan Geekie scored for the Bruins, with Geekie adding a primary assist. Goalie Joonas Korpisalo made 27 saves on 30 shots.

The Sabres were without forwards Josh Norris (undisclosed), JJ Peterka (lower body) and Jiri Kulich (concussion). As a result, Brett Murray – recalled from Rochester on Sunday – entered the lineup. Murray skated 11:20 in his first NHL action since December of 2023.

HOW IT HAPPENED

First Period

A Mark Kastelic tripping penalty sent the Sabres to an early power play, and the second unit capitalized. Krebs, unaccounted for in the slot, received Quinn’s pass and snapped a shot past Korpisalo to give Buffalo a 1-0 lead at 4:19.

Sam Lafferty went to the box for roughing after a scrum around Luukkonen’s net, then a Connor Clifton boarding penalty gave the Bruins 51 seconds of 5-on-3. A big shot block by Mattias Samuelsson helped Buffalo survive the two-man deficit before killing off the second penalty as well.

Jordan Greenway fought Nikita Zadorov, both of them 6-foot-6, after Zadorov shook up Tage Thompson with an open-ice hit in Buffalo’s offensive end. That marks three straight games with a fight for the Sabres.

Thirteen minutes in, both Sabres defensemen lost their sticks in the defensive zone and Zacha scored to tie the game 1-1. And Geekie added a breakaway goal 2:13 later to put Boston ahead.

Second Period

Tuch drew a high-sticking minor to give Buffalo its second power play. The Sabres got two shots on Korpisalo but didn’t score.

Luukkonen denied David Pastrnak on a mid-period breakaway to keep Buffalo within one.

Five minutes later, at 12:48, Power sniped the top short-side corner to tie the game 2-2. Power set a new single-season career high with his seventh goal of 2024-25.

Quinn drew his second penalty of the night in the final seconds of the period, so Buffalo began the third with 1:52 of power-play time.

Third Period

Korpisalo made a diving save to deny Clifton, who’d received a rebound at the left circle, of a go-ahead goal eight minutes into the period.

And Luukkonen later matched that with a great save of his own after mishandling a puck. He tracked a pass from behind the net and got in front of Elias Lindholm’s one-timer from the right dot, maintaining the 2-2 tie with 5:13 remaining.

A Bruins defensive-zone turnover produced a net-front scramble with three minutes to go, but the Sabres’ second line couldn’t take advantage. That was the last great chance in regulation for either team.

Overtime

Tuch and Rasmus Dahlin had a 2-on-1 rush but couldn’t score, and Tuch hit the post on his follow-up attempt. Korpisalo also stopped Krebs on a 2-on-1 with Thompson.

During a chaotic sequence in Boston’s zone, Ryan McLeod drew a trip to give Buffalo a 4-on-3 power play. On the man advantage, Tuch tipped a Power shot into the net for the overtime winner with 11 seconds remaining.

GAME HIGHLIGHTS

UP NEXT

The Sabres make their first-ever trip to Salt Lake City for a Thursday night matchup with the Utah Hockey Club.

Coverage on MSG begins at 8:30 p.m. with puck drop scheduled for 9.